Supreme Court to hear Maharashtra govt's appeal against acquittal of GN Saibaba today

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a special sitting Saturday to hear Maharashtra's plea against the Bombay High Court order acquitting former Delhi University Professor G N Saibaba in a case relating to his alleged Maoist links.

A bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice Bela M Trivedi is likely to hear the matter at 11 am. On Friday, the top court had refused to stay the Bombay High Court order.

Following the High Court acquitting Saibaba , the Maharashtra government swiftly moved the apex court seeking a stay on the order which was declined. The top court, however, allowed Maharashtra to move an application before the registry requesting an urgent listing of the matter.

Also read | GN Saibaba cleared of Maoist links; When, why was former Delhi University professor arrested?

A bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli had told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the matter for urgent listing and sought a stay on the verdict, that the court can not stay the acquittal order as the parties are not before it.

More than eight years after his arrest, the Bombay High Court on Friday acquitted Saibaba and ordered his release from jail, noting that the sanction order issued to prosecute the accused in the case under the stringent provisions of the UAPA was "bad in law and invalid". The Nagpur bench of the high court allowed the appeal filed by Saibaba challenging a 2017 order of the trial court convicting and sentencing him to life imprisonment.